Turkish films compete at Ghent Int'l Film Festival

Turkish, German and Israeli films will be screened at the 36th Ghent International Film Festival from Oct. 6-17.

Turkish, German and Israeli cinema will screen at the 36th Ghent International Film Festival from Oct. 6-17, with films from the three countries accounting for half of the titles in competition.

Director Felix van Groeningen’s “The Misfortunates,” Belgium’s nominee for a Foreign Language Oscar, will open the festival and Turkish director Fatih Akin's feel-good comedy “Soul Kitchen” will screen on the closing night of the festival.

“Orada” (There), from Turkish directors Hakkı Kurtuluş and Melik Saraçoğlu, will compete for this year’s Ghent Grand Prize alongside “The Children Of Diyarbakır,” a film by Kurdish director Miraz Bezar, who lives in Germany; Andreas Dresen's “Whiskey With Vodka,” Florian Gallenberger's German Film Prize winner “John Rabe,” and Israeli films “Zion and his Brother” from Eran Merav and “Eyes Wide Open” by Haim Tabakman.

Music is always front and center in Ghent and the festival's 36th edition will include four live concerts, among them a performance by Kevin Costner and his Modern West band and French composer and two-time Oscar nominee Alexandre Desplat (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and his Traffic Quintet.

Ghent closes Oct. 17 with the ninth annual World Soundtrack Awards, honoring the best in film music.